Cnoc's 2023 Impact Goals

Cnoc Outdoors strives to be more than just a gear company. We are citizens of our community and avid recreationalists in the outdoors. As a company and as individuals, we are not content to just make and sell great gear. We are committed to using our platform, our hands, and our resources to do good. To impact our community in an upward motion. Since the founding of Cnoc Outdoors, we have given our time, energy, and resources to causes and organizations we believe in.

As a certified B-Corp (or if you prefer: a Beneficial Corporation, a business entity that creates a bit of good in the world), we intensely scrutinize our internal systems and external practices, to hold ourselves accountable as a company that values more than just the bottom line. As a team, we’ve met and brainstormed and researched and debated—and now we are proud to present to you, in full transparency, and for full accountability, our Impact Commitments for 2023.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion

• We commit to hiring a diverse team of outdoor enthusiasts by intentionally recruiting through alternative platforms that uplift marginalized groups within the outdoors community.
• We commit to deliberately representing underrepresented communities within all of our business assets.
• We commit to monthly internal JEDI Roundtables, wherein each month a team member presents a relevant medium to the company (book, movie, podcast, art, etc.) and then leads an in-depth group discussion on how it relates to our industry and ourselves. Consider it a book club for bettering ourselves and our industry.

Climate

• We commit to dedicating resources to evaluating a full life cycle analysis for each of our products, and publishing our data to the public on our website.
• We commit to continuing our recycle and compost programs at our manufacturing facility.
• We commit to sourcing recyclable packaging and shipping materials whenever possible.
• We commit to using post-consumer recycled materials in our packaging, and re-using scrap from the cork industry to manufacture our cork grips.
• We commit to recycling all components of our products whether at the end of their lifecycle, or out of quality during the manufacturing process.
• We commit to refurbishing gently used products for resale whenever possible, keeping usable products out of the landfill and providing steeply discounting gear.
• We commit to designing products to be infinitely repairable, allowing folks to take care of their gear for years ahead, instead of buying new gear.

Philanthropy

• We commit (as part of our B Corp certification) to donating more than 20% of our yearly profits to charity.  To support nonprofits effectively, we use a third-party screen to ensure that recipient organizations meet specific guidelines to qualify for donations and to ensure they live up to our core values.  Our philosophy towards charitable giving is to allow each charity to utilize the funding on operational, administrative, and other capital needs as they see fit. We find that charitable funding is too often tightly restricted to outputs and quantifiable actions. We want our donations to be used for the less glamorous, but equally important aspects of running a charity, such as paying to keep the lights on, maintaining a vehicle, etc.  The more profitable we are as a company, the more we are able to give. 
• We commit to dedicating resources to investigating avenues to couple land acknowledgements with measurable action to benefit native tribes whose land we recreate on—verbal land acknowledgements are not sufficient.  

Trail Work

• We commit to volunteering with local trail maintenance organizations as frequently as possible, with full intentions of once a month.
• We commit to maintaining our adopted section of the Pacific Crest Trail with the PCTA, while working towards becoming a certified stand-alone trail crew.

Internal Ways of Working

• We commit to creating a work environment that values our employees, to compensate them appropriately and with full transparency across the company, to provide resources on healthcare options and 401k investing to close socioeconomic disparities, and to encourage flexible work schedules and unlimited PTO so that we all can recreate outside, test gear, and enjoy life.
• We commit to doing business with companies and organizations that share our commitment to our core values.
• We commit to regularly and deliberately seeking out feedback on our ways of working from our employees, and taking appropriate action for continuous improvement.

We believe that together, we can make the changes that will make the outdoors industry better for all of us. Do you have changes you'd like to see?  Feel free to reach out to us - these conversations are important.